27. Takes note of the fact that after carrying out a detailed impact assessment the Commission would like to take legislative action; considers that if such legislation is proposed by the Commission, it should allow public authorities, through flexible, transparent and non-discriminatory procedures, to choose the best partner according to criteria which are defined in advance;
28. Expects any legislation clearly to define concessions as distinct from public contracts and to lay down objectively verifiable criteria for selection;
29. Takes the view that concessions should be of limited but variable duration, depending on the length of time taken for the amortisation of the private investment, so that competitors are not excluded from competition for an unnecessarily long time; takes the view that the duration of partnership relations should be established so that free competition is as a matter of principle restricted only to the extent needed to ensure the amortisation of the investment and an appropriate return on the capital employed and to refinance future investments;
30. Takes the view that the principle of transparency requires the factors on which the determination of the duration of the contract is based to be published in the tender documents, so that tenderers can take this into account when drawing up their tenders;
31. Considers that a comprehensive approach to procurement (the life-cycle concept) and competition between tenderers in terms of innovation result in efficiency gains if, when projects are carried out jointly, risk-sharing is optimised and there are functional specifications and a highly incentivising payment mechanism;
32. Asks the Commission to draw conclusions from experience gained of competitive dialogue in order to make recommendations as to an appropriate procurement procedure in the field of concessions, as the flexibility of competitive dialogues is as a rule suited to the complexity of concessions, without jeopardising respect for the principles of transparency, equal treatment and proportionality;
33. Supports the Commission in its efforts to ascertain whether standard procurement rules should be created for all PPPs on a contractual basis, irrespective of whether the PPPs concerned qualify as a public contract or a concession;